"Elsie, put away your mask of innocence. Your lies have been exposed. From this day forward, you will be thrown out of this villa!"
"What do you mean, Oswald? I don't understand. I swear I have never lied to you about anything."
Elsie's voice trembled as she stared at the man in front of her. His chilling expression sent shivers down her spine. This was her husband—Oswald. Their marriage had lasted five years, yet now he looked at her as though she were a murderer. His cold eyes burned with such hostility, it felt as if he truly wanted to kill her.
Elsie was stunned by such cruelty. She had never imagined she had done anything to betray him. For five long years, she had loved him wholeheartedly.
As she stood frozen, Oswald's voice rose, harsher and louder.
"Tess is awake. She told me everything. Before her accident, someone sent her an anonymous text saying I was with another woman in a hotel. In her panic, she didn't wait for the light to turn green. She rushed across the road—and was struck by a truck."
Tess was awake? Tess—Oswald's beloved woman. If not for that tragic accident, it would have been Tess, not Elsie, who became his wife.
But Elsie had not caused any of it. Before the accident, Tess had been her friend. She had mourned for her, grieved deeply, and visited her often in the hospital. Yet now, Oswald was accusing her of being the cause?
Her lips trembled as she voiced her doubt.
"What do you mean? You think it was me who sent that text?"
"Don't you? Then why were you caught on camera in my bed by the press? I was forced to marry you under family pressure!" Oswald's handsome face darkened, his jaw tightening as he spat the words through gritted teeth.
Elsie felt a sharp pain pierce her skull. A buzzing filled her ears, making her dizzy. She still couldn't believe she was being branded a murderer.
But the way Oswald spoke, it was as though she had plotted everything—stealing Tess's husband and orchestrating the tragedy. Yet only she knew the truth: she had been framed by her stepmother and stepsister, drugged, and pushed into becoming the mistress of a married older man. Somehow, she had ended up in Oswald's bed. To calm the scandal, Oswald's grandmother had forced their marriage.
Everyone believed she had schemed for money. After all, her father had been indicted in court, and many assumed she had climbed into Oswald's bed to secure a luxurious life. They ignored the truth—that she had refused at first, agreeing only because they promised to help uncover the injustice behind her father's conviction.
Their marriage had been nothing more than a deal. The wedding was unblessed, hollow, stripped of joy. No ceremony, no champagne, no blessings. Oswald's family treated her like a beggar picked up from the streets. On the very first day as newlyweds, she had been ordered to serve them like a servant.
And although Oswald had not been outright cruel, he had never once defended her from his mother's harsh and cold treatment. Still, Elsie had appreciated that he had agreed to marry her. She had given him her body willingly—but more than that, her love for him had grown, deeper and deeper with each passing day.
But now? Now he believed she was a scheming woman. A murderer. He thought Elsie, a woman with a master's degree in economics, had deliberately designed her way into this miserable life? Absurd.
Her hands trembled uncontrollably, but she stubbornly held back her tears. Drawing in a deep breath, she asked coldly,
"So, what are you going to do next? Report your wife as a murderer to the police?"
Oswald's lips pressed into a thin, rigid line, his gaze sharp as ice. His voice was merciless as he replied,
"Do you think Tess is as vicious as you? She pleaded with me not to take action against you. She even begged me not to divorce you. But I can't bear to see her suffer because of you.
Elsie, all I ask is that you leave. I will even give you a sum of money to guarantee your life after—"